Worthy of our Trust, Due our Faithfulness and Loving Obedience

 

13For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  Colossians 1:13-14

Be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.     Col 1:9-11

     15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.  Col.  1:15-16

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together     Col.. 1:17 (col.)

      6Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.  Col 2:6-7

“See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”  col 4:17

                        My answer is "Yes, Lord"  What's yours?

                Do you really have anything better to do?

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,   2 Peter 1:5

 

The Joys of Aging

What? Yes! there is a special joy as your days bring Heaven closer. Remember Christmas morning when you dug into your stocking to find all the little treasures inside? The best was always deep into the toe. For a child of the King, the best, after much anticipation, comes last! Check out the Bible's list of Godly men and prophets -- Noah was 80 when he began building God's ark. Abraham became first of Jesus's earthly lineage because he was given a child in his 80s. Years of faith and obedience led to blessed accomplishments--in Moses' life and many others. 

As your 9th decade looms on your horizon, you become hyper-aware of the many blessings God has brought you during your journey. You may become aware that your memories seem to cluster around one Godly attribute or another which remain, celebrated and fresh, in your memory. Thanks to arthritis or other such frequent companions, we now have time to sit and remember our long relationship with our King, to pray for those we love who need His presence in their lives, to begin our eternal life praising our Lord even before we join that huge choir at His throne.

Some of us find our aging mind concentrating on how others treat us; others--children of Royalty--tend to focus on good memories, remembering times we have treated others well and been blessed and acknowledge God's hand of protection, guidance, and love.  

Some may still feel resentment for slights and hurt feelings in a glow of self-pity for all the suffering they have survived-- but the point He wants us to remember is not the pain, but that He was with us, and we survived, a little stronger than the day before!  Perhaps He has noticed we are lagging behind on the golden trait of forgiving.  And then He reminds us of those forgotten times when we failed Him and came to Him for forgiveness. or have hurt someone and been forgiven. And we remember all that Jesus suffered without complaint the penalty as He paid the sin death we earned, 

Sometimes for example, when He discerns our need for gratitude, he brings to mind all the narrow escapes He brought us through or all the good times we have shared in His prese4nce. We may or may not clearly recall details of blessings bestowed over a lifetime, but we will remember all the sudden growth spurts in our spirit, or days we felt His hand holding us up in times of extreme pain, fear or despair--He was surely there--we survived, right?  

Earthly friends may desert you or be unavailable or dealing with their own problems, just when you desperately reach out for their help. No one was there for Jesus in His last moments here on earth and He resolves that no one belonging to Him will ever be completely alone or helpless, but always safe in His hand, softening the blows this world delivers and holding us close, promising to wipe away our tears and bring us joy in His presence forever.

Today's crises will be forgotten as we reject worry and doubt sent by the enemy and give our hearts, minds and spirit into Jesus's never-ceasing watch care. And no matter how bad yesterday was, it was not all bad:  now you're now a day closer to Heaven!

Trust with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.    Proverbs 3:5-6

I will love those who love me and those who seek me diligently will find me. Proverbs 8:17

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” 1 Timothy‬ ‭6:6-9‬ ‭NIV‬‬  

Looking For Love

 One of the most exasperating things a mother has to deal with is a bored child--whiny, petulant, rejecting every suggestion for entertainment. My Aunt Till found one game that never failed to bring smiles: hide the thimble. My cousin Jackie and I would close our eyes and she would hide her thimble somewhere in the room, in plain sight, but so small it kept us occupied for a long while, searching.

As we grew older, there were other searching games: hide and seek or Easter egg hunts. Approaching adulthood, there were scavenger hunts. Hunting for a goal is a lifelong occupation, although what we search for becomes more complex, more elusive, looking for something to satisfy our longing for happiness, entertainment, pride, popularity, admiration, wealth, power. But nothing keeps us happy for long; there is always something else just beyond our reach, someone else who has more. And nothing satisfies us for long/ 

It's as though we look at life as we once stared into the refrigerator, not knowing what we need, searching for something exciting, new, different, but nothing there attracts us.  Physical hunger isn't satisfied by sweets and snacks; it craves nutrition, protein, to give us strength and brain power to meet our day's challenges. Spiritual hunger can never be satisfied without something that sticks to our spiritual ribs and fortifies us for our day.

There is a country song which describes our dilemma: Looking for love in all the wrong places. True love can be found only by realizing who we really are, neither as good as we believe we are nor as bad as we fear, but actually a spirit created by God to love and serve Him in this life and the next. His love for us never dims, never fails, never leaves us. Follow Him and leave behind all thirst for things of this world and will never left alone to face this very imperfect world. 

How freeing it is to reach the point when ego and temporal cravings fade as you learn you already have what you needed all along: You are a Child of the King and nothing this world has can compare with this.

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather  boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 1 John 4:9

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.  Psalm 52:8 

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,      Ephesians 2:4

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 John 4:16

Child Care is not Care-free

 A neighbor from long ago had a tiny son who was hated and avoided by all the neighborhood kids. He was uncontrolled, rude to adults, a danger to other kids, big or small, and vicious when he didn't get his way. After I caught him standing on my family's miniature picnic table swinging a big stick at my girls, I knocked on her door to explain that he was not allowed into my back yard and must not climb the fence and endanger my children, although her daughter, at my girl's age, was welcome. 

I soon learned from her daughter that her mom was not at home--she had sent both her kids to stay with me until she returned. I was now her baby-sitter, expected to delay my planned trip for groceries, along with my daughters, had to wait until--whenever she returned? Apparently, the child learned his behavior from his mom!

When I later tried to discuss "childcare" with her, she waved away any comments: her college-educated wisdom led to her chosen method. "I believe any child he offends will soon teach him better."  (Or, I thought, they would teach him to get even with someone who wouldn't let him have his own way and truly he grew even more dangerous, more determined to get whatever he wanted, and as an adult, he was headed for legal troubles.)

As it turned out, that mother died a few short years later, leaving her husband and his new wife to raise the boy. Perhaps this was God's second chance for the boy--I've often wondered whether the change was a blessing for the boy as he grew.

I raised my family as I was raised, setting boundaries, explaining concepts of fair play, sharing, being kind, obeying rules, Small children need only to understand and obey the word NO;  as they grow, explanations help them understand why these things matter. If they don't learn to respect others and accept boundaries, how will they learn to accept God's boundaries and guidance as adults?

Along with learning how to treat others, they need to learn how NOT to behave and why, and how to coexist with the other kind of people.

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.     Proverbs 22:6

  

Being an Adult in Training

Once long ago, I was a child with a mother to monitor my sense of right and wrong.  Then I grew older and had to leave the kiddie pool and learn to swim amidst the sharks and other dangerous creatures in the big murky adult ocean and I felt very alone, very afraid of wandering too close to danger or getting lost in its depth.

I met Christ at age 7 or 8, so I always felt sure I belonged to Him and eventually will go to meet Him in the sky someday and resolved to do my best to obey His rules for my new life. I tried to do things to please Him--while in high school I taught 4 year olds in summer Bible School Later I taught tiny tots in Sunday school--knowing I wasn't prepared to teach anyone older. A new chapter began at year 42 of my life, with losing my 62-year-old mother to cancer and my husband to divorce. Time to look upward instead of to my mother for encouragement and wisdom. 

Revivals, seminars enriched my spiritual life: For a time, I worked early Sunday mornings as  a local evangelist's telephone councilor during his TV sermons.  I started a weekly fast-and-pray group in a conference room at work with a couple of friends at work.  And Satan shifted into high gear--he thought I would be easy prey and resent the loss, feel fear of hunting another job at my 40+ age.  During this time, I found myself recording my emotions on the written page and joined a writers' group, which continued for several years as I developed whatever ski;; or talent I could manage. 

The devil overlooked the strong base I now had. Instead of feeling rejected by the divorce I had felt very loved, totally protected, bulletproof. You really think after that I would quake at being jobless? In a couple of weeks, I had a temp job thru an agency which led to a much better permanent job at Abbott Labs, where every individual received respect, great working conditions, and a fair pension, much higher after 13 years' service than the prior job gave after 14 years. During my years at Abbott, I found myself putting my emotions on the written page and joined a writers' group, which continued for several years as I developed whatever skill I could acquire. 

With this training and encouragement from the group, I attained some success in publishing poetry, short stories and one sale of non-fiction. Along with learning to express myself effectively, I grew confident enough to tackle minor home improvements and to invest savings for future needs. Friendships and my morale grew because of the group. Stronger now, I was ready to face fresh attacks designed to bring fear and insecurity when I had lost that job after 13 years!

Satan paid close attention when I retired. 14 years later. He saw my physical difficulties and reduced income and that I now would be alone--perhaps this was his chance. Helplessly he watched as I leaned to guard my finances, shared my home from time to time with someone needing help, and began spending lots of time in Bible study and in 2016, at age 83, began boldly declaring the glory of my God in this blog   

Now I see God's hand in my decision to join the writers' group to prepare me for His blog.

 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation. Psalm 71:18, NIV

             

Making Music

 Almst everyone loves music in some form or venue--in a concert hall or in a park or parade going down Main Street to celebrate a special occasion or on a football field during intermission (my favorite part of game day).

I became familiar with some of the classic forms of music from 4 years of piano lessons.  Parades down city streets gave me the thrill of watching a marching band. At half-time, football games thrilled me with the intricacies of that band, going far beyond marching in unison! 

Watch with me: united, they march onto centerfield, stepping in time to the beat of the music--the drummer keeps them on the mark in unison, but they never missed a note as they began to weave in and around each other, row by row, in complicated, ever-changing formations. Beautiful to watch but just try to visualize what it took to create this thrilling performance.

First, a leader, who created the complicated routine, down to each note, each step and trained each band member to perform his own part effectively. He chose each member and placed them perfectly, sorted by the various instruments to create the wonderful balance of sounds.  Regular teaching sessions and hours of daily practice ensure the group will perform to his standard without question. Then, onto the field to practice the complicated path up and down the field, weaving back and forth, never fully seeing the beauty of their performance until they see a video after the performance.

Why the pressure for perfection? To gain confidence, skill, desire to please their master, appreciating the beauty created by their efforts, their leader who expected their very best.

But wait. Suppose the drummer begins to believe his part is more important because they all move on his mark, his tempo? Now the melody gets muffled, the brass section begins to sound shrill, confused and overcome by the volume of his drum. Their leader quickly steps in to remind the group that each one is unique and has his own part to play in order to produce the performance he requires. If worse comes to pass and the drummer fails to respond, he can be replaced and someone new will be chosen in his place--he will have lost his chance to be part of this thrilling group. The group will go on; he is alone, left behind. Members who are unprepared to do their share are apt to bring discord rather than pleasant music. Likewise, untrained or failing in commitment to their group harm the group when they could be blessing it.

Sound familiar?  God is our Leader, conductor, teacher, who chooses our path. If we obey Him, harmony, mutual help creates good results within the group. If we opt out, God can always find someone to sit in our chair, but no one else can create our portion of the group's performance. Each one, pastor, choir, teacher, church pianist, orchestra, or Sunday A.M. pew-warmer has a unique part to play, a field of opportunity for service not available to anyone else. Each part of God's orchestra in perfect tune creates the harmony and effective life of His church.

4For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us 

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16

4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5And there are varieties of ministries, and the same But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. 6There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.  1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 11